why seeing eye kangaroos could never work

[mopaul]

first of all, all marsupials have notoriously small brains. this doesn't mean they are stupid, just smart enough to earn a living as a marsupial. but the fact remains, their mode of locomotion just does not lend itself to being helpful to the blind, as with seeing eye dogs.

kangaroos make sudden takeoffs, sometimes for no apparent reason, and any blind person would be propelled into traffic, or be drug behind the stampeding kangaroo. kangaroos are very jumpy, as in nervous. it's just an overall bad idea, and i think any further research or investigative studies should be halted and the funding used for more practical purposes, like the overwhelming scourge of cats, living in millions of american homes.

[Teddy_Salad]

1. Well

if you go to Australia, the only kangaroos you will see, except those kept in zoos or wildlife parks, are the ones dead on the side of the highways.

My American wife lived in Australia for two years and the only roos she saw were on the side of the road.....not moving.

So yeah, you're pretty much right, MP.
Seeing eye dogs shouldn't feel threatened by kangaroos.
Although the theory itself is, I have to say, a sound one. ;)

[Skittles]

2. can Kangaroos stand using only their tails?

I'm being serious here

[southpaw]

3. No... from what mine tells me...

he HATES using only his tail...

[Skittles]

4. LOL

hey, that Gilmour picture looks a lot like a young Gary Rossington.

[southpaw]

7. I can see the resemblance, now that you mention it...

Rossington is probably my favorite of Skynyrd's dozen-or-so guitarists... along with Ed King...

[Skittles]

8. same here

Gary certainly did not age well though. :o

[Teddy_Salad]

5. Yes they can

They do use their tails as an extra leg when standing and when two males are fighting one another, they will actually stand on their tail while using their legs to claw their opponent.

There have been incidents of male roos doing this to people too.'

But to answer your question....yeah, they can stand on their tails.

Amazing creatures.

[Skittles]

9. I've seen pictures

but I never knew if they were photoshopped or not (hard to tell these days!). Thanks.

[oblivious]

6. It can work.

I think we can assume the roo could be trained not to jump into traffic, and that the owner could be trained to hop in time and stride with the roo.

So no, I think it could work. But it's good you brought this up for discussion.